Recently Asked Questions

We are revising our Meeting Room Policy. Currently we have a group of seniors who meet at our library for [really healthy] exercise in the morning before the library is open. They have been doing this for about [many] years. As we know the participants very well and they want to meet before the library is open, we have allowed them to come into the building when it is not officially open.

There is no staff on duty. They open and lock up when finished. This has been a wonderful service we can provide our seniors in a rural community where there are very few options for group gatherings. We would like to keep this practice in place.

However, as we discuss the meeting room policy, we realize that we would not be comfortable with having other groups be in the library when we were not open to the public with staff present.

Can we write our policy to allow this group to continue with the current practice, yet limit other groups to only use the meeting room when the library is open.

As part of a town bicentennial celebration, the committee wants to create a map of historic properties. There would be a description of the property noting its historic significance, the address, and ideally a photo. Many of the properties are privately owned. Do owners need to give permission for their property to be included? We would publish the address and describe the history of the property, but current owners' names would not be disclosed. We want to share history, but respect privacy. What legalities should we be aware of?

Local police walked through our Library earlier today with no explanation. Later on, we noticed 2 teens on premises, who we assume should have been in school. We thought the police may have been looking for them as truants, but that is not confirmed. The question is, if the police were to ask if we saw the teens, are we able to answer or is that considered a violation of patron privacy as it is with patron information and records?